"I don't know if you saw him out there, on a slant, stop on a dime -- and he just turned the other way, on Gilmore, who I think could be an All-Pro corner," Manuel said, "and he made the play. The kid is special. I have thought that way since 2010."

Manuel told The MMQB's Peter King that he jumped out of his chair when the Bills drafted Watkins to supplement a roster lacking in playmakers.

"C.J. Spiller calls me right away and says, "We got our boy! We got our boy!" Manuel said, via King, "Because we'd been talking about it since January. My phone went almost dead, because 18,000 people called me at one time. It's going to be great to watch him grow."